Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
You know how sometimes you pray, and it feels like God left you on read?
I’ve been there – honestly, more times than I’d like to admit. But this Sunday’s readings remind us of what happens when we choose to trust anyway – when we keep showing up, even when God’s plan looks nothing like ours.
Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was to go,” trusting completely in God’s promise. The psalmist reminds us that we are “the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.” And Jesus calls us to live with our hearts fixed on heavenly treasures rather than earthly ones.
Let me share a story from my own life that taught me something about this kind of trust.
I had an amazing group of four friends since kindergarten – we were practically inseparable. But when we transitioned to high school, classes were organized alphabetically. All my friends ended up in one section, and I was placed in another. I didn’t know anyone in my new class, and honestly, I was sad.
The first few weeks were really lonely. I only saw my old friends during recess, and it just wasn’t the same. But at some point, I made a decision that would change everything. I chose to give my new classmates a chance, believing that if God had placed me in this class, there had to be a reason. As my mom always said, “Everything that God does is perfect.” I used to repeat that a lot – because I trusted Him 100%.
But don’t get me wrong… that didn’t make it easy.
It didn’t take long, though, before I started forming a new group of friends. Then, during sophomore year, I was invited to a retreat hosted by my parish. I didn’t want to go alone, so I invited my new friends – and to my surprise, three of them said yes. Even more surprising? Two of them didn’t even believe in God.
That retreat ended up being life-changing for all of us. By the end of the weekend, those two friends who had no faith encountered Christ in a profound way. Eventually, both became Catholic. Suddenly, I had friends who shared my faith at a deeper level than I’d ever experienced before.
We started going to weekly Adoration together, joined youth group leadership, and honestly, my faith grew from something I practiced mainly on Sundays with my family to something that shaped my entire life. Having that support made a huge difference – it helped me live out my faith every day, in a much deeper and real way.
Years later, we still keep in touch. Some of my friends are now married with children – and their faith remains strong. Looking back, I can see that God’s “disruption” of my plans was really His protection of my future. His plans weren’t meant to ruin mine; in fact, my original plans might have held me back from receiving the blessings He had prepared.
As today’s Gospel reminds us, “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
Sometimes God has to redirect our path because He sees treasures, we can’t yet imagine – friendships that will deepen our faith, and purposes that go beyond anything we could plan for ourselves. He wants to use us to bring Him into other people’s lives. Maybe my friends would’ve met Him some other way… but He chose me, and I said yes. And now, years later, I still see the fruits of that yes in their beautiful lives and families.
Sometimes, the most profound act of faith is trusting God when He changes our plans – believing that His perfect timing and perfect love are always working for our good. God’s plan is perfect. All we have to do is trust Him – and let Him work.